Surveillance video shows a gas station clerk with mixed martial arts training overcoming three would-be robbers who tried to swipe a bank bag from his co-worker outside the shop.

Mayura Dissanayake was behind the counter, inside the shop, when he saw two men jump out of an SUV and attack his co-worker, who had just gotten out of his car with a bank bag. Dissanayake said instinct kicked in and he ran out of the shop to help. (Click2Houston.com)

The video shows Dissanayake running outside and kicking one of the suspects in the face. The other suspects started to engage but decided to take off instead."The first guy I saw, I just kicked him in the face," he said. "Then I punched the other guy."

The guy he punched dropped to the ground and got left behind as the other two suspects took off in their getaway car. The man he knocked down was charged with robbery with bodily injury.

Dissanayake said he has been training in mixed martial arts for more than a decade and was a champion cage fighter in his native Sri Lanka.

The incident happened July 10, 2014. Click2Houston.com said the report was posted on July 25 and was viewed by more than 4.5 million people over the first weekend. Dissanayake said he woke up to around 500 Facebook friend requests the morning after the story was posted.